xiv, 386 p. : 24 cm

A personal story of female genital mutilation. Mire reveals what it means to grow up in a traditional Somali family, where girls' and women's basic human rights are violated on a daily basis. She describes FGM is the ultimate child abuse, a ritual of mutilation handed down from mother to daughter and protected by the word "culture."

Includes bibliographical references (p. 376-378) and index

A daughter of Africa, 1960-1979. New beginning -- Whispering voices -- Smoke rising from her ears -- White turban man -- The girl with three legs -- Grandmother's shrouding -- The secret house and the ghost house -- The sound of the scissors -- Betrayal -- Learning to walk again -- Mysteries -- The Sheikha -- Asra's elopement and Mother's pain -- Boots marching to Ogaden -- Arousal transactions -- The Da Vinci hotel -- The overpriced vagina -- An imprisoned wife, 1979-1984. The limping one -- The twisted tongue -- The smoke screen -- The quelling pene -- Incapacitated state -- The kohl eyes one -- Moving away from bedlam -- Time to burst forth -- Grenoble -- The feared mutant -- Distorted body -- The black swan -- Mending the wounds -- Moving away from perdition -- The Diderot Restaurant -- The coffee shop -- The courtesan -- Squeezing the vaginal walls -- Flowers and footsteps -- White sugar -- The four breasts -- Going with the flow -- The dark hole -- Father's illness -- The crushing weight -- A nation of bards, 1984-2011. The Angelinos -- The ecclesiastical path -- Bold moves -- The relinquishment -- The path to fire eyes -- Bloodshed -- Tailing the dream -- Rockefeller -- Achieving the impossible -- Beating you to the punch -- Tremor and the indie pilgrimage -- Breakaway -- Going for the gold -- Father's shrouding -- Bhadrakali -- Lifework

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